Finally, after several months waiting we have pricing and availability for the Samsung Gear 360 – their small spherical 360 degree camera which is set to expand the 360 degree video and VR market through the power of Samsung’s marketing machine.
Gear 360 is compatible with Samsung’s smartphones from the last couple of years including the S6 and S7 families and offers a dual lens approach to the 360 degree filming question.
A little sphere, which comes with a self-standing mini-tripod, the Gear 360 stitches together the two images to create the fully immersive video experience.
This allows you to film events and placed like you’ve never considered before and is probably the best example of content creation for the range of VR headsets on the market including Samsung’s own Gear VR.
Prasad Gokhale, Vice President – IT & Mobile – Samsung Electronics Australia said “Samsung Gear 360 will change the way Australians capture and share their experiences. It extends the possibilities of immersive content to give people the power to film and edit their very own 360-degree videos and watch it with Gear VR,”
“We want to make virtual reality easy and accessible for Australians and see Gear 360 as a way to open up a new world for people seeking an incredibly immersive experience with beautifully well-crafted hardware and software,”
The dual lens, dual 15 megapixel sensors capture a 3840 x 1920 image in 360 degree video and can also be used as a point of view camera capturing a 180 degree wide angle with a single lens.
Having waited since Barcelona in March where the product is announced, Samsung today confirmed the Gear 360 is available now at an RRP of $499.
It’s a competitive price, especially when compared to the market leader 360Fly, however with availability only for Samsung phones it does limit the market a touch.
We’ll put it head to head with the 360fly soon with the key difference being a single lens vs dual lenses and looking at how the “stitching” together of the video is done.
Samsung Gear 360 Product Specifications
| Camera | Two CMOS 15-megapixel fisheye cameras |
| Image Processor | DRIMe5s |
| Video | MP4 (H.265) – Dual Lens: 3840×1920 (30fps) |
| Image | JPEG – Dual Lens: 30M (7776×3888) |
| Audio | Codec: MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ Format: MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG |
| Memory | microSD card (Up to 128GB) (sold separately) |
| Features | Display – 0.5” (72 x 32) PMOLED |
| Shooting mode – Video, Photo, Time Lapse Video, Looping Video | |
| Camera mode – Dual/Single Lens mode Camera Setting – Sharpness, White Balance, HDR, EV, ISO limit, Wind cut | |
| IP53 Certified Dust and Water Resistant | |
| Samsung Services | Samsung Gear 360 App, PC S/W (Gear 360 ActionDirector) |
| Connectivity | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz) WiFi Direct, BT v4.1 USB 2.0 NFC |
| Sensor | Accelerometer, Gyroscope |
| Dimension | 66.7×56.2×60 mm |
| Weight | 153g (including battery) |
| Battery | 1,350mAh Li-ion |
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts two popular podcasts, EFTM and Two Blokes Talking Tech. He also appears on over 50 radio stations across Australia weekly, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show each day and appears regularly on A Current Affair.
Father of three, he is often found down in his Man Cave.
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